Primarily a collection of news links about all 10 Horizon League teams on a daily basis, culled from online newspapers, school athletic websites, the conference website, and school newspapers, plus some other content from time to time.

Monday, April 29, 2013

Norris Cole had a great five-minute stretch during the second quarter in which he delivered a pair of pinpoint passes inside to cutting teammates, found open teammates for three-point attempts and also knocked down a jump shot. He finished with four points, two rebounds and three assists.

On a smaller scale, but probably more important in terms of the landscape of his conference Ray McCallum Jr. announced that he is leaving Detroit after his junior season. McCallum is in a similar Draft position or possibly a little worse than what Larkin is based on the mock drafts that we have seen, but given the information that his father (Detroit’s coach) has we would expect that he has some pretty good information on where he could expect to be selected.

With an average of 40.7 points per game, the Heat’s bench has been a key to the series for the Heat. Spoelstra’s second unit of Allen, Chris Andersen, Norris Cole and Shane Battier have logged 39 minutes and 47 seconds of court time together in the series with prorated points advantage of plus-44.5 per 100 possessions, according to basketball-reference.com.

Friday, April 26, 2013

Based on the large number of early in-state commitments there has been in recent years, it might be surprising to note that only three of the 18 IndyStar Indiana Junior All-Stars have pledged to a college.

James Blackmon Jr., who will transfer to Marion from Fort Wayne Bishop Luers for his senior year after his father, James Blackmon Sr., was named the coach there on Wednesday, is committed to Indiana. Another of the six core members, Greensburg guard Bryant McIntosh, is committed to Indiana State. Wapahani’s Grant Evans, a member of the North group, is committed to Wright State.

Plymouth’s Mack Mercer, a core selection, is one of the 15 uncommitted Junior All-Stars when it comes to his college plans. The 6-9 Mercer was offered a scholarship this week by new Ball State coach James Whitford, adding to a list that includes Valparaiso, Belmont, Boston College, Indiana State, Kent State, Vermont, Rice and Miami of Ohio.

“We’re not one guy, two guys, three guys,” Wade said. “Everyone who came in there can make an impact. Birdman made a big impact tonight. Norris Cole made a big impact tonight. Guys can pick guys up, and that’s what we’re about.”

The bulk of the run came with James directing the Heat’s four second-rotation reserves: Shane Battier, Chris Andersen, Norris Cole and Ray Allen. As if they’ve played together for years, Andersen and James once again provided the key second-half spark. Allen and Cole did the rest from behind the arc.

While Chris Andersen, Norris Cole, Ray Allen and Shane Battier were uplifting off the bench in the series' first two games, Spoelstra bristled at the notion of his team being able to "flip a switch" when needed.

The improved shooting on the road during this 18-1 joyride has been especially pronounced with four players: Dwyane Wade (45.8 percent during the first 22 road games, 54.4 on the road since), Udonis Haslem (43.5, 53.3), Battier (40, 49.5) and Norris Cole (39.2, 46.5).

Wednesday, April 24, 2013

"Chris has done this two games in a row now where he has come into the game and had an impact," Bucks coach Jim Boylan said. "He plays with a lot of energy and was joined by Norris Cole (on Tuesday). I wouldn't say it caught us by surprise, but both games there was a four-, five-, six-minute stretch where we let the game get away from us and (Andersen) was part of both runs."

Monday, April 22, 2013

Watching Australian players enter the NCAA and become stars isn't anything unusual, so hopefully Exum will stick around long enough to make his mark. Plenty of other star foreign players take routes to the NBA which don't include American colleges at all.

Regardless, it got me wondering who this year's All Australian team would have been. Here's mine.

Sunday, April 21, 2013

Heat: The best in the Big 3 era, with a Hall-of-Fame-caliber shooter (Ray Allen), a savvy shooter/defender enjoying his best season ever from three-point range (Shane Battier), a much-improved backup point guard (Norris Cole) and an quintessential energy man (Chris Andersen). Rashard Lewis and Mike Miller can contribute if needed.

• Bucks: Milwaukee has some quality depth, with dangerous shooters J.J. Redick (14.1 points per game) and Mike Dunleavy, emerging center John Henson and hustling Luc Mbah a Moute. Coach Jim Boylan said he doesn’t expect to use Sam Dalembert or Drew Gooden.

But the Portsmouth Invitational (PIT) just happened, which is an event where college seniors get to work out and play games in front of NBA scouts. And NBA scouts aren't interested in accounting shenanigans, they want to understand their product. So they measure players in bare feet.

I took these measurements and compared them to what each player's school had them listed. We can assume that anyone with a discrepancy around an inch was still an honest measurement by the college, but it just included shoes. An inch and a half starts to get stretchy. At three inches, we're pretty much in wtf territory.

Here is the complete chart, and if you're unfamiliar with some of the players they are listed below according to their school.
...
player college
...
Nick Minnerath Detroit (+2.50)
...
Ryan Broekhoff Valparaiso (+1.50)
...
One of the first things that jumps out is the block of three at the top. Illinois State, Kent State and VMI all had players listed three inches taller than they actually are. Last year at the PIT the biggest exaggeration was 2.5 inches. This year there were four players which exceeded that.

Just below those four you'll find Detroit's Nick Minnerath (+2.25 inches). At last year's PIT, his teammate Eli Holman was listed at +2.50, which was the biggest discrepancy of the year. Clearly, Detroit needs a new measuring tape.

Wednesday, April 17, 2013

He’s not a veteran like Lewis, but Norris Cole and his performance against the Cavaliers were just the latest examples of that professionalism and depth. The Heat’s backup point guard finished Monday’s game with 16 points, 11 rebounds and nine assists. Yes, his youth might have contributed to those two missed free throws, but his ability to mentally block out those misses and then block Kyrie Irving’s shot moments later was a display of maturity.

“Awesome job,” Lewis said. “Kyrie Irving is an All-Star and one of the best point guards in the league and he’s especially a great one-on-one player and he [isolated] Cole at the end of the game and he came up with a big steal. That’s the reason why we won that game, because Kyrie Irving would have gotten a great look at the rim.”